Waterbury Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER JUSINO-RODRIGUEZ, 32, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 180 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department determined that Jusino-Rodriguez headed a drug trafficking organization that coordinated the shipment of parcels containing kilogram-quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Connecticut.  Chaddiel Ferrer was the primary “runner” for the organization.  The cocaine parcels were mailed to various drop sites in the Waterbury area, and Ferrer regularly picked them up and delivered them to Jusino-Rodriguez.

On October 20, 2022, investigators conducted court-authorized searches of three locations in Waterbury and seized approximately six kilograms of cocaine; nine firearms, including an AM-15 rifle; high-capacity magazines and numerous rounds of ammunition; and $132,365 in cash.

A total of approximately 18 kilograms of cocaine were seized during the investigation.

Jusino-Rodriguez has been detained since his arrest on December 14, 2022.  On April 30, 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Jusino-Rodriguez’s criminal history includes a state conviction in 2014 for first-degree burglary with a deadly weapon.

Ferrer, also of Waterbury, pleaded guilty and, on November 27, 2023, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force (“NBCTTF”) and the Waterbury Police Department, with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police Violent Crimes Task Force.  The NBCTTF includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden, and Town of Groton Police Departments.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Konstantin Lantsman and Natasha M. Freismuth.